Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Search This Blog

STRONY

Balenciaga part 1

Taking into consideration recent news about Nicolas Ghesquiere's departure from Balenciaga, choosing a topic of today's article was quite easy. Celebrated French designer left his job after 15 year's tenure. He took the helm of the longtime dormant brand in 1997 and is responsible for its reboot. As Vanessa Friedman put it, Ghesquiere transformed Balenciaga "from venerated-but-irrelevant brand into the perennial hottest ticket at Paris Fashion Week (which, when you think about the pressure that generates, is a pretty extraordinary thing). He proved the way a talented designer could abstract heritage to transform a brand's identity into something truly modern and struck gold with that biker bag for a brand that had never been known for his accessoires". The official statement from Balenciaga's owner- PPR SA stated that it was a "joint decision" between the company and Ghesquiere to amicably part ways. Balenciaga blossomed under the guidance of uber-designer French fashion favourite. Ghesquiere's designs have been wildly influential. He came up with the gladiator sandals, introduced scuba-like materials, some of his collections are still vividly remembered , like 2007 "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink layering look", Spring 2008 "blend of Warholian florals and armour" and obviously his last collection for Balenciaga- full of clean yet opulent lines.

Ghesquiere's role in revamping the brand and restoring the fashion house's reputation is unquestionable. When he took over, after his Belgian predecessor Josephus Thimister, the company was struggling. Considered now one of the industry's most lauded talents, Ghesquiere started his career by designing funeral and golf clothes. Under his reign, the brand expanded and became profitable, the sales increases almost 11 times since 2001 and the designer himself defined Balenciaga's image for last 15 years. He was constantly adding innovative designs and fabrics and slowly created some sort of futuristic high-fashion elegance. His last show was one of the most praised and has brought him much acclaim, it was very much Cristobal's inspired collection. Ghesquiere's relationship with PPR's managers and designers of other PPR's owned brands was sometimes stormy one. There were frictions between Tom Ford (then the head designer of Gucci) and Domenico de Sole (CEO of Gucci) in 2003 and as a result Ghesquiere seriously considered quitting. The recent attention devoted by PPR to another brand - Yves Saint Laurent, did not help either. The rumors surfaced that Ghesquiere complained about all the resources given to Hedi Slimane for Yves Saint Laurent and much lesser funds given for Balenciaga. Additionally, Slimane was given great creative freedom, he was not only allowed to stay in Los Angeles (despite Paris being YSL's headquarter) but also to change fashion house's logo. Ghesquiere's relationship with Balenciaga's CEO Isabelle Guichot did not seem to be perfect either.

Meanwhile, many fashion insiders expect Ghesquiere to launch his own fashion label.

My name is Magdalena. I'm a personal shopper, stylist and fashion blogger. I love classics and elegance, timeless forms and cutting. My biggest inspiration are Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Jackie Onassis . I'm a huge fan of fifties in fashion. My blog is a place where you can find my inspirations, beautiful places which I visited and all these things which I loved . This is a small window of my lifestyle.